After confirming that he won’t be making the quick turnaround to fight at UFC 301, Alex Pereira has responded to Magomed Ankalaev’s callout for a fight in Abu Dhabi.
Alex Pereira flirted with the idea of fighting in Rio de Janeiro at UFC 301, following his emphatic quick finish over Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 earlier this month.
‘Poatan’ shockingly called for his next fight to be at heavyweight, as he stated his desire to fight for the heavyweight title.
Since then, he has admitted that is unlikely to happen as he needs to recover from a double toe break suffered during his main event.
Magomed Ankalaev calls for a title fight in Abu Dhabi
Following the Brazilian’s impressive title defense, Magomed Ankalaev took to X to give his opinion on Pereira. “Alex Pereira congratulations, I will stop you in the first round by knockout. The man doesn’t have a chin.”
Despite being ranked number two in the 205lb division, Ankalaev’s momentum has been seriously halted recently, with two of his last three fights ending in a draw and a no contest.
The 31-year-old reclaimed some of that momentum in his last outing, knocking out Johnny Walker in the second round of their January main event.
The only light heavyweight currently ahead of the Russian in the rankings is Jiri Prochazka, who is also making his claim for another title fight. The former champion knocked out Aleksandar Rakic on the prelims of UFC 300, bouncing back from his loss to Pereira.
Since then, ‘BJP’ has made it clear he wants a rematch in his next fight, however, he will likely need one more win before he is granted a rematch.
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With that, Ankalaev again took to X, calling for a fight with Pereira in Abu Dhabi. The promotion is scheduled to return to Abu Dhabi on October 26th with UFC 308.
Alex Pereira responds to Ankalaev’s callout for UFC 308 fight
Although the Russian has called for a fight in October, it is Alex Pereira who will have the end say, and he isn’t pleased with Ankalaev’s callout, stating that he wants to fight sooner.
“I don’t want to fight at the end of the year.” Pereira told Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting. “I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won’t be ready. I don’t know why he said that.”
It is likely that ‘Poatan’s’ next title defense will come against Magomed Ankalaev with him being the only option that currently makes sense, however, Pereira isn’t a fan of how ‘complicated’ the 31-year-old is.
“This guy is complicated. Honestly, I have to see what’s best. I’m here to fight but I don’t understand best about other things like where is best (to fight) and where isn’t. If I have to fight there, I will, but if it’s not a date I want then it’s not best for me, I can say no.” Pereira added.
The 36-year-old went on to admit that he would rather wait an extra month till November if he had to so that he could compete at Madison Square Garden again.
The Brazilian won the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 295 which took place at Madison Square Garden.
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